Brianna is Thirteen Years Old!

We officially have a teenager in the house . . . whoop, whoop!

This past Saturday, Brianna turned thirteen years old. We celebrated with lots of friends and fun, and she rang in being thirteen just as I expected she would!

Brianna is my very social child, so I wanted to do something special with her friends for her birthday. She really misses her friend, Vaneza, who lives in Kansas, so a few weeks ago I wrote Vaneza's mom, Sarah, and asked what she would think about Vaneza coming to stay the weekend with us during Brianna's birthday. I really didn't know how Sarah would react, but I was pleasantly surprised when she agreed! On Friday the 17th, we met Sarah, Vaneza, and her sisters at a Casey's in small town Kansas about half-way between our houses, and brought Vaneza home for the weekend.

We stopped for a snack at McDonald's over the turnpike in Vinita, OK.

Vaneza and Brianna with Will Rogers over the turnpike

Not long after we arrived at our house, Lisa brought Chloe over to spend the night with us, too. We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. My full table makes my heart happy!

The teens decided to make cupcakes after dinner. These three were up to something the entire weekend, ha!

Brianna, Chloe, and Vaneza

The little sisters tried to get involved, but I warded that off pretty quickly.

Ridiculous.

Pretty ladies!

Vaneza, Brianna, and Chloe

The next morning was Brianna's birthday, and she was only a little surprised to wake up to a new bike. The fact that all three of her siblings had gotten new bikes for their birthdays tipped her off just a bit!

Ready to ride!

She decided to open gifts while still in her pjs and before breakfast. The birthday girl gets to do what she wants!

New jeans!

Brianna requested biscuits and gravy for her birthday breakfast. 

Besties!

After she got dressed and ready for the day (and braided everyone's hair), we took a few photos of our teenager.

Spunky Brianna

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To celebrate our girl and to keep all the kids occupied, I had planned an outing to The Gathering Place with a few additional friends. I drove all the girls in our van, and we picked up Kyrie on the way. Chris and Bren rode in Chris's car and met us there. 

I had also invited Hayden and Avery to meet us there, as well as Sadie and Caroline. We had a fantastic time together!

Chloe, Vaneza, Kyrie, Brianna, Avery

Sadie, Caroline, Brecklyn, and Brooke

Bren and Kyrie

Hayden, Kyrie, Brenson, Avery

We had all packed a lunch, so we ate together in the park. It was a little bit chilly if you weren't moving, but overall a nice day. 

Chris, Chloe, Kyrie, Vaneza, Bren, and Brianna eating lunch

Sadie, Caroline, Brecklyn, and Brooke having lunch

The whole group 💜

Brenson

The slide park is one of our favorite places at The Gathering Place, and the kids had a blast zipping down the slides!

Brooke

Brecklyn

Brenson

Kyrie and Brianna

Brianna and Vaneza

All the kids got along great, which was wonderful. I told Brianna that she has quite a group of preacher's kids as friends!

Vaneza, Brecklyn, Brooke, Hayden

This rope area was a big hit with the kids.

But apparently not meant for adults 😂. Brianna was just a little bit horrified at her dad!

Brecklyn

Brecklyn, Chloe, Vaneza, Brianna, Kyrie, Brooke, Avery, Brenson

Some of the architecture at The Gathering Place is amazing. I love these walls and ceiling!

Brenson, Vaneza, Brooke, Brianna, Chloe, Kyrie, Avery, Hayden

By the time we left The Gathering Place, I was tuckered out. Chasing kids around for hours is not for the weak! We took Kyrie home, then dropped Chloe at her house, then came back to our place for a quick dinner followed by cake and ice cream. Grampy and G-Jo joined us for dessert.

Brenson had his final basketball game of the season at 8:00pm in Bixby that evening, so Chris and Bren took off as soon as we finished cake. While I cleaned up the kitchen, Vaneza and Dad visited at the table. I thought the photo of them visiting was cute and wanted to share it with her parents. Vaneza's dad was one of Dad's students when he taught at the Bible Institute of Missouri.

On Sunday, we went to Bible study and worship services where we had a guest speaker (John Grubb). Of course, Vaneza came with us, and it was great to have an extra kid there.

That evening, Chloe spent the night again, and girls gave each other makeovers. Yikes!

On Monday, Brianna had to be up bright and early for her first day of  Track & Field practice. Chris took Bri to practice while I helped Chloe and Vaneza get packed up and ready to go to meet Vaneza's mom and sisters. Chloe was out of school for President's Day, so she rode along with us. Once we got to Casey's, the girls insisted we take some photos of them. The Bacon Mac and Cheese sign just make these photos the best, haha!

Vaneza, Kylie, Brianna, Lehya, Chloe

Vaneza, Brianna, Chloe

Crazy girls!

Brianan, Kylie, Lehya

What a weekend! I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our girl turning 13 than with special friends. Brianna is a blessing to all her know her, and we are so thankful to call her ours!